Knives Out fans believe that they’ve worked out the mystery of Wake Up Dead Man, the third film in the murder mystery franchise.
Last Friday (May 31), it was reported that Jeremy Renner has joined the Wake Up Dead Man cast. Later that day, X user @MyTimeToShineHello – an account that usually shares scoops of upcoming Marvel projects – quote-tweeted the news, writing: “There’s our killer”.
X user @captaincupkicks shared their observation: “Judging by the history of other Marvel actors playing Knives Out villains he definitely did it,” referring to the casting of Chris Evans (Knives Out) and Edward Norton (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) as villains in their respective instalments. Evans portrayed Captain America in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, while Norton starred as the titular superhero in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
This theory apparently even existed prior to the Renner casting reveal, as X user @TheEricGoldman shared on May 28: “Waiting to hear which actor who headlined an MCU movie is in Knives Out 3 so I know who the killer is.”
As written https://t.co/M86oJ15EEH pic.twitter.com/Vlg5lH52fX
— TylerCWhitmore (@TylerCWhitmore) May 30, 2024
Others have expanded on the theory, with @BryanSudfield pointing out that Renner technically appeared as himself in Glass Onion with his face on a bottle of hot sauce. X user @EPM106 proposes a different route for the theory, predicting that Renner will instead play the victim.
This is pretty hilarious, considering the Jeremy Renner hot sauce in GLASS ONION. https://t.co/Q0Y4bnSBiP pic.twitter.com/jYKAIiWYFs
— Bryan Sudfield (@BryanSudfield) May 30, 2024
Hes playing himself, he’s the victim, call it https://t.co/09LPnjuXsO
— Thel 🏳️⚧️ (@EPM106) May 30, 2024
Renner is the latest addition to Wake Up Dead Man after a week of casting news that included Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Josh O’Connor, and Caile Spaeny. Daniel Craig will return as detective and franchise lead Benoit Blanc.
Rian Johnson will once again return as writer and director. Plot details are yet to be revealed but in a teaser shared by Johnson last Friday (May 24), Blanc states the film will feature its “most dangerous case yet”.
Renner has returned to work following his freak snow plough accident in 2023. “[I] broke 38 bones,” Renner said during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “It was brutal,” he added.
